The popular book that has me questioning everything

Why does it have to be this way?

Author’s Note: This post talks about Onyx Storm, the most recent release in The Empyrean book series by Rebecca Yarros. There aren’t any explicit spoilers, but I am expressing my opinion of the book, so if you don’t wish to be swayed in any way, I understand if you want to skip this post until you’re able to read the book yourself.

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I have to get something off my chest, but I have to be honest, the good girl/people pleaser in me doesn’t want to appear critical or ruffle any feathers. Plus, as someone who has aspired her whole to write a book but still hasn’t gotten herself to do so, I don’t know if I’m necessarily in a position to comment. However, as a reader, I don’t see why I shouldn’t have an opinion.

Here’s the situation.

I’m not normally a fantasy or romantasy reader, but a couple years ago I fell for the hype that surrounded the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. I was seeing it all over social media and many of my friends were talking about it. Ever affected by FOMO, I decided to give it a try even though it was outside of my usual genre selections. I gave it a good go, but couldn’t make it past the second book for a number of reasons, the biggest being the writing itself. (The wing stuff was another. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you’re lucky.) This is why when Fourth Wing came around, I ignored it. It looked like the same sort of series: a magical, made-up land full of characters with made-up names, plus wings (what is it with all the wings?!).

Ultimately, after talking with a few of my friends who couldn’t stop raving about it, I reluctantly decided to give it a try. Luckily for them and Rebecca Yarros, I was in a lull with my freelance work and when that happens I tend to feel a little low as well, so in addition to having a lot of time on my hands, I was in the mood for an escape. Unlike ACOTAR, which had been severely overhyped for me, I had low expectations for Fourth Wing.

Because it was a longer book, I wanted to get through it as fast as possible. Technically, I know I can DNF (“do not finish”) any book at any time, but I also know myself and my perfectionistic tendencies, so I decided to both read it and listen to it on audio. My strategy was to read when I could, and then listen when I needed to do other things, like wash the dishes or run an errand. It worked pretty well, especially since I could listen to audio on 1.5 speed. Unlike ACOTAR, I only cringed a little at the writing. That aside, it seemed to have a decent premise and interesting enough characters which helped draw me into the story.

I finished it quickly. In fact, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was off to a much stronger start than ACOTAR in my opinion, so I had few hesitations in starting the second book, Iron Flame. Still in a lull with my freelance work, I read it almost as fast as the first, though it took more a conscious effort. It started to drag on, with most of the book full of what felt like cheap efforts to keep the two main love interests apart. In a 300-page book, it might not have been as noticeable, but when it goes on for 623 pages, it begins to feel fatiguing.

It started to pick up in the second half before ending on a cliffhanger. Though I didn’t entirely agree with the execution of it, I convinced myself that this book was serving a necessary purpose of setting up the third. I equated it to a TV series, where some episodes are less action-packed by nature because they’re laying the foundation for the next.

Perhaps this is why the third book, Onyx Storm, felt like such a letdown for me. Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe it was also supposed to serve a foundational role. However, if I’m honest, I just don’t think it was well done. I don’t think it was given enough time to.

If we look at the timeline of publication, we can see why. Fourth Wing was published in April 2023 and was quickly followed by Iron Flame in October of that same year. Onyx Storm came out just over a year after Iron Flame on January 21, 2025. After gaining massive traction online – we’re talking over 475 million views on the Fourth Wing hashtag on TikTok – it’s clear publishers wanted to capitalize on the commotion.

And that they have. All three books have made it to #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list and sold millions of copies, with Onyx Storm selling more than 2.7 million copies in its first week.

This is all fine and dandy, except for the fact that Onyx Storm was objectively not great. I know myself to be a critical reader. I know I have a hard time getting into a book if the writing and storytelling don’t meet my subjective “standards,” but in this instance, I’m not the only one who feels this way. From my experience and those of other readers on the internet, the writing felt sloppy, the characters were flat, and the overall pacing was off. For how much of a slog it was to get through as a reader, it was was evidently written in a rush.

Consumer culture clearly got the best of it.

As I was reading, I couldn’t help comparing the series to another global sensation: Harry Potter. There are so many things J.K. Rowling did in her series that made it the success it was. For starters, the world she created is so rich, so full of dynamic characters and interesting creatures. It is an easy escape that stands apart from anything else. Plus, it’s brought to life through thoughtful storytelling, full of heart and emotion, and strategic structure, with each book as its own story while still remaining part of a larger whole. The school years serve as containers for each book, and within each is an immediate arc or mystery (i.e. find the Sorcerer’s Stone) in addition to the larger arc (i.e. defeat Voldemort) and overall theme (i.e. good versus evil). The immediate arc gives the reader satisfaction in the current installment, while the larger arc keeps them wanting more of the series. If you ask me, the Harry Potter series is a masterclass in intentional storytelling.

Intentional storytelling isn’t just the desire to tell a good story, it’s taking the time to do so. It’s taking time to build the scene, to develop the characters, to create the richest experience for the reader.

Rebecca Yarros didn’t seem to have that luxury, whether by her own choice or her publisher’s, and it showed. Despite its success and over four-star rating on Goodreads, Onyx Storm was a flop in many readers’ eyes. The reviews range from general disappointment to scathing criticism. The one-star reviews on Goodreads, while far fewer than the five-stars, are brutal (these aren’t even the worst ones).

As a writer, I cringe as I read these. Maybe I just have a fragile ego, but these comments would crush me if they were about anything I’d written, whether I’d rushed it or not. And it’s clear Rebecca was rushed, just given how different Iron Flame and Onyx Storm were from Fourth Wing, not to mention the rapid-fire publish dates. People on the internet have reported that she’s even admitted to “panic-writing” Iron Flame to meet the deadline.

All this would take a toll on a writer, and it seems that it has. Rebecca posted on her Instagram last week saying she’s back at her computer for the first time without “an immediate anxiety attack” since September. That’s awful. Yes, writing is hard, but the act of doing it is the best part. Writing isn’t inherently anxiety-inducing, the expectations are. Expectations and end results kill creativity. Ask any writer, artist, musician, anyone with a creative process.

I didn’t like the book, but I can sympathize with Rebecca. Competing with the hype can’t be an easy task. However, it raises the question: why try to compete with it at all? If it compromises the story, exhausts the author, and disappoints the reader, what’s the point?

Consumer culture, of course, would say money.

Consumer culture says it doesn’t care about the quality of the work or the quality of life of the author. Consumer culture says something that is objectively rushed and sloppy can still be a best-seller, that people will still buy it and that’s all that matters.

That is sad.

That kind of mentality is why we have landfills, oil spills and melting icecaps.

That kind of mentality is why we have shrinking attention spans and rising depression rates.

That kind of mentality is not what creating is for.

Creating is not for money. It’s not for fame.

It’s for fun. It’s for fulfillment. It’s for connection.

It’s for life.

To distill the act of creating down to a means to a monetary end does everyone a disservice.

I think Rebecca did the best she could with what she had. I think it fell short, but I don’t think it was for lack of trying. I think most, if not all, of it is the fault of our consumer culture.

Following the release of Onyx Storm, Rebecca has said she’s going to take a break. Now that she’s able to be back at her desk anxiety attack-free, I hope she can fall back in love with writing – and that we can all let her.